Keplerian Motion
Tests understanding of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, Keplerian orbital elements, orbital period formulas, velocity calculations, and orbit transfer mechanics.
Questions
Which of Kepler's Laws states that a planet's orbit around the Sun is an ellipse, with the Sun at one of the foci?
- First Law
- Second Law
- Third Law
According to Kepler's Second Law, what is the relationship between a planet's distance from the Sun and its orbital velocity?
- Inversely proportional
- Directly proportional
- Constant
Kepler's Third Law relates the orbital period of a planet to what property of its orbit?
- Eccentricity
- Semi-major axis
- Inclination
What is the eccentricity of a circular orbit?
- 0
- 1
- 0.5
What is the period of a geostationary orbit around Earth?
- 24 hours
- 12 hours
- 36 hours
What is the orbital velocity of a satellite in a circular orbit at a distance of 6378 km from the center of Earth?
- 7.9 km/s
- 11.2 km/s
- 9.8 km/s
Which of the following is not a Keplerian element?
- Semi-major axis
- Eccentricity
- Inclination
- Argument of periapsis
What is the transfer orbit used to move a satellite from one circular orbit to another?
- Hohmann transfer orbit
- Bi-elliptic transfer orbit
- Gauss transfer orbit
What is the velocity change required to transfer a satellite from a circular orbit of radius r1 to another circular orbit of radius r2?
- sqrt(2GM/r1) - sqrt(2GM/r2)
- sqrt(2GM/r1) + sqrt(2GM/r2)
- sqrt(GM/r1) - sqrt(GM/r2)
What is the orbital period of a satellite in an elliptical orbit with semi-major axis a and eccentricity e?
- 2πa^3/GM
- 2πa^2/GM
- 2πa/GM
What is the true anomaly of a satellite at a given point in its orbit?
- The angle between the periapsis and the current position of the satellite
- The angle between the apoapsis and the current position of the satellite
- The angle between the ascending node and the current position of the satellite
What is the argument of periapsis of a satellite?
- The angle between the ascending node and the periapsis
- The angle between the ascending node and the apoapsis
- The angle between the periapsis and the apoapsis
What is the inclination of a satellite's orbit?
- The angle between the orbital plane and the equatorial plane
- The angle between the orbital plane and the ecliptic plane
- The angle between the orbital plane and the plane of the vernal equinox
What is the ascending node of a satellite's orbit?
- The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane from south to north
- The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane from north to south
- The point where the orbit crosses the ecliptic plane from south to north
What is the descending node of a satellite's orbit?
- The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane from north to south
- The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane from south to north
- The point where the orbit crosses the ecliptic plane from north to south